Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
BTW here is the right Chinese enrichment plant it is not 1 As Art said
Enrichment and enriched uranium imports
In 2010 China needed 3600 tU and 2.5 million SWU of enrichment. The WNA Nuclear Fuel Report has demand in 2020 at 15,000 tU (natural) and about 8 million SWU. Enrichment requirements rise to about 13 million SWU in 2025 and 19.6 million SWU in 2030. All enrichment capacity is inland, in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. China aims for a fully independent enrichment capability including R&D, engineering, manufacturing and operating.
A Russian centrifuge enrichment plant at Hanzhun/Hanzhong, SE Shaanxi province, was set up under 1992, 1993 and 1996 agreements between Minatom/Tenex and CNEIC covering a total 1.5 million SWU/yr capacity in China at two sites. The first two modules at Hanzhun came into operation in 1997-2000, giving 0.5 million SWU/yr as phases 1 & 2 of the agreements. In November 2007, Tenex undertook to build a further 0.5 million SWU/yr of capacity at Hanzhun, completing the 1990s agreements in relation to the Hanzhun plant. This was commissioned ahead of schedule in mid-2011 and has operated reliably since.
A north expansion project at Hanzhun was then built over 2012-14, with 1.2 million SWU/yr capacity using indigenous technology.
The full agreement for the main $1 billion Hanzhun plant was signed in May 2008 between Tenex (Techsnabexport) and China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation. The site, or at least two phases of it, is under IAEA safeguards. Up to 2001 China was a major customer for Russian 6th generation centrifuges, and more of these were supplied in 2009-10 for Hanzhun, under phase 4 of the agreement.
The Lanzhou enrichment plant in Gansu province to the west started in 1964 for military use and operated commercially 1980 to 1997 using Soviet-era diffusion technology. A Russian centrifuge plant of 500,000 SWU/yr started operation there in 2001 as phase 3 of the above agreements and it replaced the diffusion capacity. Subsequent expansion is based on indigenous centrifuge technology, about 2.5 million SWU of which was operating in mid-2015. Two 0.5 million SWU units (CEP 2&3) and one 1.2 million SWU unit (CEP 4) comprise the indigenous additional capacity. CEP 4 is due to start full commercial operation in 2016.
Another and larger diffusion enrichment plant, Plant 814, operated at Heping, Sichuan province, from 1975 to 1987 for military purposes. It was indigenously built, about 200-250,000 SWU/yr capacity, but its continued operational status and purpose is uncertain, possibly including fuel for naval reactors. It appears to have been upgraded about 2006. A new 0.8 million SWU/yr centrifuge plant was then built at Emeishan nearby, operating from about 2013. A second 0.8 million SWU/yr plant is under construction there.
China Uranium Enrichment Capacity
Sources: World Nuclear Association Nuclear Fuel Report, September 2015; .
UxC estimates 2015 capacity at 4.5 million SWU.
China has developed its own centrifuge technology at Lanzhou, and the first domestically-produced centrifuge was commissioned there in February 2013.
Further enrichment capacity was planned with the new China Nuclear Fuel Element Co (CNFEC) plant at Daying Industrial Park in Heshan city, Guangdong province. It was quoted at 7 million SWU/yr by 2020. However plans for this location were cancelled in July 2013. The new location of the complex is Cangzhou in Hebei province in the north. It is due to commence production in 2018 and ramp up to full capacity after 2020. The Guangdong government wants to revive the original project, and a southern site is being sought.
CGN-URC contracts fuel fabrication services from CNEIC on behalf of its operational power generation companies. There has been some minor export of enrichment services, and in April 2014 a new initiative was reported, and export delivery of 1 million SWU was estimated for 2014 (unconfirmed).
Enriched uranium
Much of the enriched uranium for China's reactors has come from outside the country, and some still does so in connection with early fuel loads for foreign-sourced reactors.
A contract with Urenco supplied 30% of the enrichment for Daya Bay from Europe.
Under the May 2008 enrichment agreement Tenex is to supply (from Russia) 6 million SWU as low-enriched uranium product from 2010 to 2021 for the first four AP1000 reactors, this apparently being related to completion of the Hanzhun enrichment plant. It is expected to involve $5 to 7 billion of LEU and possibly more. Enriched uranium for the first four AP1000 reactors is being supplied by Tenex from Russia, under the 2008 agreement.
Enrichment and enriched uranium imports
In 2010 China needed 3600 tU and 2.5 million SWU of enrichment. The WNA Nuclear Fuel Report has demand in 2020 at 15,000 tU (natural) and about 8 million SWU. Enrichment requirements rise to about 13 million SWU in 2025 and 19.6 million SWU in 2030. All enrichment capacity is inland, in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. China aims for a fully independent enrichment capability including R&D, engineering, manufacturing and operating.
A Russian centrifuge enrichment plant at Hanzhun/Hanzhong, SE Shaanxi province, was set up under 1992, 1993 and 1996 agreements between Minatom/Tenex and CNEIC covering a total 1.5 million SWU/yr capacity in China at two sites. The first two modules at Hanzhun came into operation in 1997-2000, giving 0.5 million SWU/yr as phases 1 & 2 of the agreements. In November 2007, Tenex undertook to build a further 0.5 million SWU/yr of capacity at Hanzhun, completing the 1990s agreements in relation to the Hanzhun plant. This was commissioned ahead of schedule in mid-2011 and has operated reliably since.
A north expansion project at Hanzhun was then built over 2012-14, with 1.2 million SWU/yr capacity using indigenous technology.
The full agreement for the main $1 billion Hanzhun plant was signed in May 2008 between Tenex (Techsnabexport) and China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation. The site, or at least two phases of it, is under IAEA safeguards. Up to 2001 China was a major customer for Russian 6th generation centrifuges, and more of these were supplied in 2009-10 for Hanzhun, under phase 4 of the agreement.
The Lanzhou enrichment plant in Gansu province to the west started in 1964 for military use and operated commercially 1980 to 1997 using Soviet-era diffusion technology. A Russian centrifuge plant of 500,000 SWU/yr started operation there in 2001 as phase 3 of the above agreements and it replaced the diffusion capacity. Subsequent expansion is based on indigenous centrifuge technology, about 2.5 million SWU of which was operating in mid-2015. Two 0.5 million SWU units (CEP 2&3) and one 1.2 million SWU unit (CEP 4) comprise the indigenous additional capacity. CEP 4 is due to start full commercial operation in 2016.
Another and larger diffusion enrichment plant, Plant 814, operated at Heping, Sichuan province, from 1975 to 1987 for military purposes. It was indigenously built, about 200-250,000 SWU/yr capacity, but its continued operational status and purpose is uncertain, possibly including fuel for naval reactors. It appears to have been upgraded about 2006. A new 0.8 million SWU/yr centrifuge plant was then built at Emeishan nearby, operating from about 2013. A second 0.8 million SWU/yr plant is under construction there.
China Uranium Enrichment Capacity
Sources: World Nuclear Association Nuclear Fuel Report, September 2015; .
UxC estimates 2015 capacity at 4.5 million SWU.
China has developed its own centrifuge technology at Lanzhou, and the first domestically-produced centrifuge was commissioned there in February 2013.
Further enrichment capacity was planned with the new China Nuclear Fuel Element Co (CNFEC) plant at Daying Industrial Park in Heshan city, Guangdong province. It was quoted at 7 million SWU/yr by 2020. However plans for this location were cancelled in July 2013. The new location of the complex is Cangzhou in Hebei province in the north. It is due to commence production in 2018 and ramp up to full capacity after 2020. The Guangdong government wants to revive the original project, and a southern site is being sought.
CGN-URC contracts fuel fabrication services from CNEIC on behalf of its operational power generation companies. There has been some minor export of enrichment services, and in April 2014 a new initiative was reported, and export delivery of 1 million SWU was estimated for 2014 (unconfirmed).
Enriched uranium
Much of the enriched uranium for China's reactors has come from outside the country, and some still does so in connection with early fuel loads for foreign-sourced reactors.
A contract with Urenco supplied 30% of the enrichment for Daya Bay from Europe.
Under the May 2008 enrichment agreement Tenex is to supply (from Russia) 6 million SWU as low-enriched uranium product from 2010 to 2021 for the first four AP1000 reactors, this apparently being related to completion of the Hanzhun enrichment plant. It is expected to involve $5 to 7 billion of LEU and possibly more. Enriched uranium for the first four AP1000 reactors is being supplied by Tenex from Russia, under the 2008 agreement.